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Saturday, June 30, 2012

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; 17so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for
every good work.

Today we want to answer this one simple
question: Why Preaching?Many churches
today have come to devalue the place of preaching in the life of the
church.God has ordained one main method in the Bible by which God's people are equipped and fed to evangelize unbelievers for the glory and exaltation of Christ – namely
preaching.As we consider today the cause and reason for preaching, I
will submit to you four reasons why preaching matters:

1. Character of Scripture (leads to it)2 Tim 3:16-17

2. Commanded by God2 Tim 4:1-2

3. Constantly Needed2 Tim
4:3-4

4. Completes God’s Will2 Tim
4:5

In today's blog we will consider the first of these. So why preaching?First of all, preaching matters because of the….

CHARACTER
OF SCRIPTURE(leads to
it) 2 Tim 3:16-17

Perhaps the clearest statement pertaining to the inspiration and character of the Bible is 2
Timothy 3:16-17.God revealed the
scriptures, breathed them out and gave them through and to men. The 2000 Baptist Faith and Message begins with these words about the character of scripture: "The Holy Bible was
written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It
is a perfect treasure of divine instruction." Truly the character of scripture as God’s
Word requires it to be unpacked and unfolded to hearers.

The Bible was inspired by God to be explained and preached

In verse 16 we read that it is profitable for
teaching – that is, it tells me what is right.Secondly, it is for reproof – that is, telling me when I’m not
right.Thirdly, it is for correction –
or telling me how to get right.Then
fourthly, it is for training in righteousness – or instructing me on how to
stay right.

The Bible was inspired by God for equipping and practice exhorted by preaching

Now in verse 17 we read that
by the scriptures, the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good
work.How is this to be done?Certainly the scripture itself has this
quality of being able to equip.However
the primary means of equipping is none other than the preaching of the Word.From the moment of saving faith, through the
process of the Christian’s life, exposure to the preaching of the Word is a
must.

The Bible's power to convert the human heart is connected to preaching

Romans 10:8 tells us – “what
does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is,
the word of faith which we are preaching.”Romans 10:14-15 later on reveals – “How then
will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in
Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
15How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is
written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD
THINGS!”

Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 1:21 states: “For since in the wisdom
of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was
well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save
those who believe.”

The Bible's quality of changing believers into further Christlikeness is directly connected to preaching

As
preaching is ordained of God in the beginning of salvation, it is fundamental
to the Christian’s growth in sanctification. Ephesians 4:11-12 bears this out –
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as
evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of service,
to the building up of the body of Christ”.The Bible as the Word of God, as God’s revelation, has included with it
the need for preaching.___________For those interested, follow further comments on what defines preaching @ twitter.com/mahlonsmith

Friday, June 29, 2012

Colossians
1:18 "He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have
first place in everything."

The Beginning, Middle and End of all things in one verse

What is amazing
about these verses is how much the Holy Spirit has placed in such a short
space.Here in verse 18 we cannot help
but see the connection made between creation – the beginning; the middle, which would be this current
church age (Israel having been in the Old Testament) and then the end - which speaks to the wrapping up of all things. The beginning (Genesis 1-2), middle (Genesis
3-Revelation 19/20) and the end (Revelation 20/21-22), three main phases in
the Bible’s unfolding of God’s Divine saga in the written Word.

In Colossians 1:16-18 the original language gives us a
continuous unfolding of how everything in history and eternity is centered
around the Living Word, and how enjoyment of Him is the only way we can rightly
understand God’s purposes for creation.Verse 18 reveals how Christ is “the head of His church”, and that this
group of redeemed humanity represents a foretaste of things to come.

God views all that He does from end back to the beginning

The enjoyment of the Word is
vital to our understanding of God’s purposes for creation. We cannot separate
what God began through Christ from what He intends to conclude through
Christ.The Bible’s vision of creation,
now and the end is radically Living Word Centered, since only the written Word
of God – the Bible, reveals such a vision.

Christ, the Living Word, is central to God's purpose's for beginning, middle and end

But now what is the purpose of God’s vision for creation and
history?We are told this in Colossians
1:18b – "So that He will come to have first place in everything".Perhaps a clearer way of rendering that
phrase “first place” would be “having dominance, supremacy”.It’s not that the goal of creation,
redemption and last things is to have Christ number one on a list of God’s
purposes, rather Christ is the dominating purpose period.

All creation will conclude because of the
Living Word.This should cause us
immense joy as Christians.Romans 11:36
states: "That from Him, and through Him and to Him are all things.”To know that my life has a purpose in the
Living Word is a joyful thought indeed, for I am but a pixel in the wide screen
purpose of God revealed in the Bible: His glory revealed through the enjoyment
and exaltation of His Son – the Living Word – Jesus Christ.

As He is exalted and enjoyed by His people, he will then at the
end of all the ages deliver all things up to His Father, and for the ages to
come Christ will be enjoyed.Truly then,
joyful word-centered Christianity views creation rightly because:

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Colossians 1:16
states: by
Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all
things have been created through Him and for Him. All of creation, from the beginning, found joy in God and His Word

This verse stands as one of the finest statements of Christ’s
supremacy anywhere in the written Word.Without the Living Word Jesus Christ, the universe would not exist.We know for a fact that at the opening of
creation was as event full of joy.The
Lord addresses Job with the following question in Job 38:7 - Was he there “When
the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Why were they shouting for joy?It was because of the Living Word through
whom The Father spoke all things into being.

Paul begins and ends with the refrain of “all things being
created by Him”.In between those
refrains we see what “all things” are: "both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities”.Nothing lies outside of Christ’s authority.
Since Christ is the source and the goal of joy, it only makes sense that the
act of creation was a joyful event, since he was the one making it. John 1:3 echoes this thought: “All things came into being
through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

The Oldest Question in human thought

The oldest question in human thought is: Why is there something, rather than
nothing?Modern Astronomy will use
theories like the Big Bang to try to prove the universe arose out of
nothingness by chance.Other origin models
of the universe suggest the universe is eternal, and that this current one is a
stage in an infinitely long series of beginnings and endings. Still other theories suggest that the universe has been around for eternity.

The problems with these three types of secular origins viewpoints are two-fold.(see note at the end of this blog) First, no known physical law of science demonstrates the possibility of being coming from non-being, or existence coming from non-existence. Thus the idea of the universe "popping into being" is technically non-scientific.

Second, no known physical law supports the idea of a more highly organized system coming from a less organized one. Ice cubes melt and broken glass shatters. You never see icecubes form in a warm glass of water nor a broken pane of glass reverse itself back to an unbroken state. Clearly the universe had to had formed from something or better yet, Someone who was of a highly organized intelligence. The universe is in a state of "winding down", meaning that all of the available, useable energy is becoming less and less. This points to a beginning, that was in a far more ordered state than it is now. Thus the universe cannot be eternally old. Furthermore, to say that another universe formed this one begs the question: then where would that universe had originated from? One would have to go back through an infinite series of universes, which as we have already shown, cannot be sustained by current laws of science.

Only a Christian view of origins can lead to genuine enjoyment of the creation due to knowing the One Who made it

In
contrast to those proposals, Christianity affirms the WORD, Jesus Christ, as
being the One through whom the universe derived it’s existence.1 Corinthians 8:6 notes – “yet for us there
is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist
for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist
through Him.”Now why is this cause for
joy? Because only the Christian worldview can explain why human beings believe
in such things as purpose and meaning.
That purpose and meaning are found in the One who is both Creator and Redeemer - the WORD, Jesus Christ.

Why no other worldview on origins can lead to joyPhysicist Steven Weinberg, who is one of the architects of modern
particle physics and an Atheist, noted one time that the more he studies the universe,
the more absurd he finds it to be.Why
is that?Is it the data he finds, or his
worldview? Atheism assumes there not to
be an underlying meaning and purpose to life nor the universe, and yet in order
to do science, one must believe there to be some measure of order. Truly any view of origins that is not centered
on the Word cannot elicit joy. For the
Christian, life is not random.There is
order, there is purpose – and thus joy.That purpose is found in Jesus Christ, the Living WORD, through Whom
creation commenced.______________1. This critique of secular models for the origin of the universe is based off a well established scientific law of physics called "The Second Law of Thermodynamics".

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Colossians
1:16-18 by Him all things were created, both in the
heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

What it was like to see the Milky Way Galaxy for the first time

One
of the greatest memories I have of the enjoyment of God’s creation occurred
after a hurricane had passed through where we had lived at in Central
Florida.For over a week we had no
power, and so all of the lights in a 100 miles radius were not working.I had stepped out to get some fresh air and
was blown away by the Milky Way Galaxy that stretched from one side of the sky
to the other.For over an hour I looked
at one end of the sky to the other.Despite the destruction around me, I was reminded of the joyful
confidence that God through Jesus Christ is still on the throne.

Seeing
the Supremacy of Christ the Living WORD

The
Book of Colossians is all about showing the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all
things.The last phrase in our text
above captures the point of this letter to the Church at Colossae: “so that He
Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

Why
Christ the Living WORD is at the center of all things in four words under three headingsAs
we study the written Word of God, we can summarize it under three headings, utilizing four particular terms. The Headings we will use are simply how the Bible portrays God and His works as operating with a beginning, middle and end. With the beginning we assign the term creation (Genesis 1-2). In terms of the middle part of God's activity revealed in scripture, we assign two main terms: Providence & Redemption (Genesis 3-Revelation 19/20). Then finally, the Bible reveals one great end to all history into eternity as described by the term Kingdom (Revelation 19/20-22). Common to all these headings and terms is that Christ is at the center.

The Beginning-Creation = God's beginning of creation through Christ

The
first term, creation, deals with the origin of the universe, life and
humanity. We read in 1 Corinthians 8:6 "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and
we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and
we exist through Him."

The Middle - Providence =God's means of governing all history through Christ

The second term,
Providence, covers the world after the completion of creation. God's governing of the world and history through Christ is covered under this heading. Sin's entryway into the creation was known and ordained by God's permission, however it was not authored by God.

One
of the oldest Baptist statements of faith, explains more fully how God’s
Sovereignty and Providence fits together with the purpose of redemption and the
presence of evil and suffering:

“The
almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far
manifest themselves in His providence, that His determinate counsel extends
even to the first fall, and all other sinful actions of both angels and
men.This is not merely by a bare
permission, but by a form of permission in which He included the most wise and
powerful limitations, and other means of restricting and controlling sin. These
various limitations have been designed by God to bring about his most holy
purposes. Yet, in all these affairs, the sinfulness of both angels and men comes
only from them and not from God, Who is altogether holy and righteous, and can
never be the author or approver of sin.”1 (see source cited below)

The most recent Southern Baptist Doctrinal Confession states this truth in the following way: "God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all
things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free
creatures." 2(see source cited below)

The Middle - Redemption = God's way of regulating salvation's plan through Christ

The third
term, redemption, covers God’s Eternal desire to work forth salvation by the
sending of His Son to live, die, rise and ascend andapply salvation to all who by grace through
faith believe.

The End - The Kingdom = God's reign in bringing creation, providence and redemption to His intended end by Christ

The fourth term,
Kingdom, overlaps the first three, communicating the completion of God’s
purposes for creation, the defeat of sin and death, the completed purposes of
salvation for believers and the return of Christ to bring about the New heaven
and New Earth.The Kingdom is the domain of Christ's activity working invisibly in and through believers and will also be a visible manifested reality at Christ's return.

These
four terms, when connected together, communicate the purpose of the Bible:
The Enjoyment of the exaltation of God by His people as revealed in the WORD
through the Word. Christ is at the center of all of them. In the beginning He was with the Father in creation. In the middle He is the One through whom all things consists in providence and through whom the Father's plan of salvation was accomplished. Then concerning the end, Christ will return to bring to pass the Divine purposes concerning the Kingdom. _____________________

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

1 Peter 1:20-21For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in
these last times for the sake of you 21who
through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him
glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Yesterday we contended that Christianity derives its joy from being
centered on the WORD and The Word. We have seen that enjoyment of both is
germane to saving faith at the beginning of salvation and that this joy is
central to the believer’s continuance in Godly living.Let’s now notice the third reason why
Christianity’s enjoyment of the Word and the Word is so crucial:

Great Hope is unending in the Enjoyment Word and
the word 1:17-25

Peter
now begins to lift us from the realm of current circumstance to viewing our
current circumstance in light of eternity.It is in this final section where we see the character of the Living
Word and Written Word as determiners of our joy and hope.Notice how Peter unfolds for us the character
of Christian hope in the context of enjoying the Word and the Word:

Driving
Hope for Enjoying Godly living in the Word. 1 Peter 1:17-19

By knowing who we and
“whose we are”, we enjoy Christ the living Word as we live on the basis of the
price he paid with His blood for us.Living the Godly life does not come merely from considering His example,
but more so from that fact that His gladness in purchasing us with His blood is
imbedded deep in the Christian’s identity.Quite literally, what Christ did for us in His humanity drives us to
hope and enjoy Godly living.

Peter speaks specifically of Christ as being “foreknown before the
foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for your
sake”.This language mirrors quite
closely with what John writes in John 1:1 of “the Word was with God” and in
John 1:14 of “the Word being made flesh”.Only
through our partaking of Christ’s Divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4) can we enjoy
centering our lives on God.When we
center our lives on God, we will enjoy loving others from the heart. (1 Peter
1:22)This is why centering ourselves on
Christ the Word yields a truly enjoyable Christianity.

Enduring Hope brought about by the Living
Word through the written Word

1
Peter 1:23 is a transitioning point in Peter’s text, because He is going to
switch from talking about Christ, the Living WORD to the Bible, the written
Word.In 1 Peter 1:23 we find it hard to
know which one He is talking about.We
know that the new birth is brought about by Christ the Living Word calling us
from the darkness to light. (John 5:24-25)However the scriptures themselves have this quality of being the
instrument through which the Holy Spirit brings about the conversion of men and
women to saving faith. (Romans 10:17)

The
Hope of the Christian is enduring because of its beginning and ending
point.In Christ, by His Word I hear His
voice calling me to “follow Him”.It is
in Christ, through His Word, that I can and will endure to the end.

Illustrating what is unfading

When I have gotten my wife flowers, I usually will include a little
card.The card will have a little phrase
or term of endearment written by me attached to the flowers.The flowers themselves are beautiful, and
their scent and visual appeal delight my wife.But after about 5 days they begin to lose their color.How quickly they do fade.Yet that card doesn’t fade in
comparison.My wife can see that my love
for her as not faded, even though the tokens of my affection may have.

Christ’s
love for you never fades, neither does the power and enduring quality of the
Written Word.Our hope endures because
His Words will never pass away. (Matthew 5:18)

As
we close, let me summarize what we have looked at these past several days.We explored this main thought: “why Christianity
must be joyfully word centered”.We
discovered through 1 Peter 1 that Genuine salvation, Godly Living and Great
Hope hinge upon our enjoyment of the Word and the Word in the three headings
drawn from Peter’s statements:

1.
Genuine Salvation begins with enjoyment of the Word (and the word) 1:1-12

2.
Godly Living continues with enjoymentof
the Word (and the word) 1:13-16

3.
Great Hope is unending in the enjoyment of the Word (and the Word) 1:17-25

May
we make it our duty and delight to enjoy Christ, and His Word, and thus be the
type of Christians that are a joy to be around.

Monday, June 25, 2012

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your
hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.

The Bible - the Book of Joy

It is with this joy over the Living Word, Jesus Christ, that the
Apostle reminds us of the source revealing Christ – namely the written words of
the prophets.In 1 Peter 1:10-12 we are
told of how the prophets made “careful search and inquiry” as the “Spirit of
Christ in them” was revealing both His sufferings and the “glories that would
follow”.By the time the Messiah would
ascend into heaven, 109 Bible prophecies would had been fulfilled.The enjoyment of the Living Word through His
written Word has only begun.

In order for the saint of God to be effective in their ongoing
Christian walk, we will consider how:

Godly Living continues with enjoymentof the Word (and the word) 1:13-16

One
thing we know about the Apostle Peter was his incessant enjoyment over the
Living Word and the written Word.In 1
Peter 1:13 he writes: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in
spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the
revelation of Jesus Christ.”For
the Apostle Peter, focusing upon what Christ accomplished in His first coming
and centering ourselves upon what He will do in His Return constitutes abiding
joy of the believer.In fact the entire 3rd
chapter of Peter’s second letter is dominated by Christ second coming.

God's people must be obsessed with the Word and the WORD

If we consider the testimony of church history, the Gospel of
Mark was a compilation of Peter’s preaching about Jesus Christ by the hand of
Mark as Peter expounded about Christ’s 1st coming from both Matthew
and the then newly written Gospel of Luke.Peter was obsessed with Jesus Christ and the written Word.When Jesus for example asked the disciples in
John 6:67 “SoJesus
said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Only
Peter responded in the next verse: “Simon Peter answered Him,
'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.'”

Feed your desire for God by enjoying the Word and the WORD

One of the themes Peter kept warning his readers about was
combating against the “lusts or desires” that war against the soul.There are other “joys” that compete for our
attention.Every Christian is tempted
with this offer throughout their sanctification: To follow Jesus Christ with
reckless abandonment or to walk away.Peter knew that temptation first hand, and yet he centered his joy
around the Living Word and the written Word.In 1 Peter 1:15 he writes: “but
like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your
behavior; 16because
it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Peter quotes from the book of Leviticus, whose chief interest is
to call the believer to a closer walk and fellowship with God the Father,
enjoying Him in the beauty of holiness.If
we desire God in the beauty of holiness, then our Godly living will be marked
not by obligation – but true devotion.

Christianity is most attractive when believers are enjoying the Word and the WORDIn contending that Christianity derives its joy from being centered on
the WORD and The Word, we have seen that enjoyment of both is germane to saving
faith at the beginning of salvation and that this joy is central to the
believer’s continuance in Godly living. If anything, unending joy, fueled by Christ and the scriptures, is the most attractive and effective way Christian's can demonstrate the legitimacy of what they claim to believe.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

1 Peter 1:23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable,
that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

When we consider the biblical concept of “The Living Word”, we often will turn
to the writings of the Apostle John – and rightly so. The
phrase “Living Word” is a title that applies equally to the Bible and to the
Lord Jesus Christ.John certainly bears
this out in significant texts such as John 1:1-18 and 1 John 1:1-4. It is in those texts we see joyful-word centered Christianity defined.

However there is another Apostle who took up
the pen under the direction of the Holy Ghost and wrote about “The Living Word”
– namely the Apostle Peter. Peter will explain in 1 Peter 1 why the design of Christian salvation is centered around enjoyment of the Word and the WORD.

Peter - the man of "The Word"

Peter
ended up writing two letters bearing His name.In the first chapter of this first letter, we are going to explore what
Peter has to say about the Living WORD – Jesus Christ, and the Written Word,
the Bible.In fact, 1 Peter 1:23 is a
text that could describe the work of either Christ or the scriptures.Peter writes there: "for you have been born again
not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living
and enduring word of God."

Peter is going to underscore the centrality of the WORD (Jesus
Christ) and the Word (The Bible), and even more so, the enjoyment that results
from centering on both.In this blog
we aim to understand why Christianity must be joyfully word centered by
considering the following three ideas from 1 Peter 1:

4. The believer’s perseverance – whereby
every true child of God will persevere until the very end to Christ’s
appearing. 1 Peter 1:5

Prior to God's grace, I had anything but joy towards the Word. Jesus Christ was of no consequence in my thinking. I tried to gain joy through self-righteousness. Before faith came, I was in bondage, under judgment, condemned by the Law of God. (Galatians 3:24ff) However once God in His grace called my name, I believed, and now am enjoying the riches of freedom in my salvation. Quite literally, there is "rejoicing" over what Christ has done and is doing in having made me an heir of the promises of salvation. (Galatians 4:30)

How joy shines through the believer's salvation

Like
a string of diamonds does Peter lays out the warp and woof of Genuine salvation.Then he makes this statement in 1 Peter 1:6
which is pertinent to today's blog: “this you greatly rejoice,
even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by
various trials.”It is
here where we see the theme of “joy” or “rejoicing” as one of the chief marks
of genuine conversion.Despite the dark
background of trials, of which Peter states to be normative for the Christian in
1 Peter 1:7, The joy of salvation shines through the darkness like a series of bright diamonds or brilliant stars.

The believer's uncontainable joy - The Living WORD

In fact we see one more statement made pertaining to our
enjoyment of the Living Word Jesus Christ.1 Peter 1:8 states: “and though you have not seen Him, you love
Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice
with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”The Greek of this verse literally pictures the believer so full of joy
that they are singing joyfully to themselves over this joy that they cannot
contain.

May you and I dear friend enjoy the Word and the WORD - for the joy of our salvation demands it, requires it and will die without it.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

1 John 1:4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

As
we noted several days ago, John’s opening here in 1 John 1:1-4 functions
like a Rose, wherein we can begin in the middle and work our way outward from
center to circumference.As we have
worked our way through this text, we now arrive at the purpose for which John
wrote these verses in 1:4 – “These things we write, so that our joy may
be made complete.”

The nature of joy

Joy by its very nature cannot be contained in solitary
confinement – it must be shared with another person in order for it to be
genuinely called joy.Why? Because Joy
is meant to be shared in relationship.Consider John’s remarks about Him being both captivated and captured
by His central focus on The WORD Jesus Christ and the Word – the scriptures.

The Promise of joy to those who cherish the Word and the WORD

This
fourth verse is both a promise and an exhortation.It is a promise because the readers are told
that by reading John’s words, they will have full joy.This isn’t the first time John connects the
idea of “joy” or “blessedness” to the reading of what He wrote.In Revelation 1:3 he writes: “Blessed is the
one who reads and heeds these words”.It’s
not because John wrote them, rather because of the One who is supernaturally
guiding the process of the composition of those words. The subject of the revelation is also the object to whom the revelation points.

These are not just the ramblings of a 90 plus
year old preacher writing inspirational thoughts to his readers – these are
God’s words, fully inspired, God breathed through the flowing and simple
language of this Apostle.Joy, Full joy,
is to be found due to these being “The Words” of God written about the “WORD of
God” living.

Powerful reason to cherish the Word and THE WORD: your joy depends upon it

The
promise of fullness of joy also is accompanied by the exhortation to read these
words.Now the exhortation – or urging
to do what is written – is not stated, but expected.In other words, John is writing with the
expectation that other people will read.Communication involves the intention of the reader and the expectation
that someone is listening.

John
is so full of joy over what He has experienced and witnessed for the past 60
plus years that he cannot stand to keep it to Himself.He sees his flock, he sees them striving to
be Godly, yet their joy is not full.When a pastor sees his people struggling, the urgency is to see them
full of the goodness of joy that will last through thick and thin.As any good pastor knows, only one
prescription will do – centering and enjoying oneself around The WORD and The
Word.

Practical example of cherishing the Word and THE WORD

He
writes for this purpose: that our joy may be made complete.Note what he didn’t write: “that our joy is
complete”.In order to have the fullness
of joy written of in this text, the Christian must avail themselves by actually
opening up their Bibles – and marveling at the wondrous things of scripture.
(Psalm 119:18).In doing so, they will
meet Jesus the Living Word, whose aim is to meet with them.

Pleasure of cherishing the Word and THE WORD

To
see the rainbow, I must look through the prism.I behold the pure white light, its point of entry.The properties of that light remain the same
in terms of substance, yet they are united with that prism.I look at the light coming out on the other
side, and I see the seven-fold colors of the rainbow.Those
that study optics will tell you those seven colors correspond to specific
frequencies of light that are the same no matter what rainbow you look at.The colors dazzle me, and my heart is amazed.

To
see the infinite glory of Jesus Christ, I must see His Deity united in His
Person to His sinless, post-resurrection humanity.As I do, it is the scripture that spells out
for me in specific detail how beautiful and significant He is.The Written Word in the Old Testament and the
Gospels record for me the prediction and portrayal of His Deity coming into
time and entering through the virgin’s human womb.As He is born, as He lives, as He is
crucified, raised and ascended, I am beholding the glory refracted through the
prism of sinless humanity.It is the
Acts and Epistles that explain to me the many-fold character of His glory.

Friday, June 22, 2012

1 John 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our
eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of
Life

In becoming captivated by the written Word and the Living WORD - we find the key to joy in the Christian life. The Apostle John never got over Jesus. For 60 years after having been called by Jesus Christ, John wrote his Gospel, three epistles and Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation). The freshness of his faith breathed with joy in the Lord.

Today I want us to look closer at this man who never got over Jesus Christ - The Living WORD.

John never got over Jesus!

As he
had walked with Jesus in His faith-walk for some 60 or so years, He got to know
Him. In 1 John 1:1 John unfolds the compelling nature of his experience and knowledge of Jesus Christ:

The Eternal Christ - The Living WORD – “What was from the beginning”

The Experience of Jesus the man - The WORD in human flesh…

a. The Teaching of Jesus – “what we have heard”

b. The miracles of Jesus – “what we have seen”

c. Personal knowledge of Jesus “with our own eyes”

d. The Passion of Jesus – “what we have looked at”

e. The resurrected Jesus – “touched with our hands”

f. Concerning the Word of Life – Jesus Christ Himself and also
in reference to the scriptures about Him.

We should never get over "what" He worked in our lives

In the Greek text that word translated “what” is in the neuter,
meaning that John is overtaken not only by the Person of Christ, but the event
and accomplishments of the Master.John
could have very easily used the word “He” in the text, wherein he could had
written: “He was from the beginning, He was the One we heard” and so on. Yet John doesn’t do that.The Holy Ghost had John write “what was from
the beginning” to express the accomplishments and events surrounding the Person
of Christ. Christ did a marvelous work in John's life - something of which He never got over.

We should never get over the wonder of the new life implanted in us by Christ

I feel the reason he did it this way was so that we could interpret
his statement “word of Life” to refer to the scriptures and Christ
Himself.John never got over
what He witnessed and heard from the Living Word Jesus Christ nor the living
words He heard from Jesus Christ.In
four other places Jesus Christ is depicted as the “Living Word”. (John 1:1, 14;
1 John 5:7 (KJV); Revelation 19:13)The
Bible too is elsewhere described as being the living word of God. (Hebrews
4:12)

We should never get over the wonder of Jesus Christ

John never got over the Word Jesus Christ, since it is Christ
who called him forth from spiritual death unto spiritual life. (John 1:37;
5:24-25)John never got over how the written
word imparted to him eternal life at his conversion, which Jesus spoke and
taught. He was captivated. When Jesus,
the Living Word, spoke the written word: “Come, and you will see”, the Apostle
John (unnamed in John 1:39) and the other disciple, Andrew, began to follow
Him.He never got over that.For six decades he had followed Jesus, and
was still exhibiting an insatiable hunger for the written Word.We know that centering our lives around the
WORD and the Word is enjoyable because what takes place in our first saving
encounter with the Word and the Word should never be something we get
over.